Kathmandu , Nepal -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Geeta was 9 when she began wearing makeup , staying up until 2 a.m. and having sex with as many as 60 men a day .

`` I used to be really sad and frustrated with what was happening in my life , '' she said .

The daughter of Nepalese peasant farmers , Geeta -- now 26 -- had been sold to a brothel in India by a member of her extended family . The family member had duped Geeta 's visually impaired mother into believing her daughter would get work at a clothing company in Nepal .

`` The brothel where I was ... there -LSB- were -RSB- many customers coming in every day . The owner used to verbally abuse us , and if we did n't comply , -LSB- she -RSB- would start beating us with wires , rods and hot spoons . ''

It was not until Geeta was 14 that a police officer rescued her and brought her to a safe house compound run by Anuradha Koirala . The 61-year-old woman and her group , Maiti Nepal , have been fighting for more than 16 years to rescue and rehabilitate thousands of Nepal 's sex trafficking victims .

`` Families are tricked all the time , '' said Koirala . `` The trafficking of the girls is done by people who are basically known to the girls , who can lure them from the village by telling them they are getting a nice job . It 's a lucrative business . ''

By raiding brothels , patrolling the India-Nepal border and providing safe shelter and support services , Koirala and Maiti Nepal have helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 Nepali women and girls since 1993 .

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According to the U.S. State Department , some 10,000 to 15,000 women and girls from Nepal are trafficked to India and then sexually exploited each year .

Koirala 's own history in an abusive relationship led her to her crusade . For most of her young adulthood , she taught primary school English in Nepal . But when her relationship took a violent turn , her life 's `` purpose and responsibility completely changed , '' she said .

`` Every day , there was battering . And then I had three miscarriages that I think -LSB- were -RSB- from the beating . It was very difficult because I did n't know in those days where to go and report -LSB- it -RSB- , who to ... talk to . ''

After the relationship ended , Koirala used a portion of her $ 100 monthly salary to start a small retail shop to employ and support displaced victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence .

By the early 1990s , an increasing demand for help and persistent cases of violence against women compelled Koirala to do more . Maiti Nepal was her brainchild for giving voice , legal defense and rehabilitation to victims of sex trafficking .

Roughly translated , Maiti means `` Mother 's Home . '' The group has facilities throughout Nepal and India , but most of the rehabilitation work takes place at its main campus in Kathmandu , Nepal .

Koirala said girls from the brothels arrive empty-handed , sick , in many cases pregnant or with small children , and `` psychologically broken . ''

`` When the girl first comes to Maiti Nepal , we never , never ask them a question . We just let them -LSB- be -RSB- for as long as they need . We let them play , dance , walk , talk to a friend , '' Koirala said . `` They are afraid at first , but eventually they will talk to us on their own . ''

The group also takes in rape and domestic violence survivors , as well as abandoned children .

`` I can not say no to anybody , '' Koirala said . `` Everybody comes to Maiti Nepal . ''

Accommodating its population of close to 400 women and children requires a large staff of teachers , counselors and medical personnel -- and dozens of bunk beds . Many of the staff are sex trafficking survivors now committed to helping rehabilitate other girls . The work is funded by grants and donations from around the world .

Post-rescue recovery is comprehensive . Maiti Nepal provides medical treatment , psychological and legal counseling , formal court filings and criminal prosecution , all for free .

While some of the girls are able to return to their families , many of them -- particularly those with HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases -- become socially stigmatized and are no longer welcome in their home communities . For these girls , Maiti Nepal becomes their new , and possibly last , home . A hospice on the compound 's grounds houses terminally ill patients .

`` The hardest part for me is to see a girl dying or coming back with different diseases at an -LSB- age -RSB- when she should be out frolicking , '' Koirala said . `` That 's what fuels me to work harder . ''

The group 's ultimate goal is to help girls become economically independent and reintegrated into society .

`` We try to give them whatever work they want to do , whatever training they want to do , because when you 're economically empowered , people forget everything . People even forget -LSB- she is -RSB- HIV-positive or was trafficked , '' Koirala said .

Koirala and at least 50 trafficking survivors also participate in what she calls social preventive work outside the campus . Their community awareness camps educate families in rural villages and city slums about the dangers of sex trafficking , and a daily patrol at crossing points along the India-Nepal border successfully rescues an average of four Nepali girls a day .

`` Our girls are border guards who have been trafficked themselves . They easily recognize a girl that is being trafficked or will be trafficked , '' Koirala said . `` The girls need no motivation from me . They know the horrors of the brothel , and they are here to save their sisters . ''

Some girls who are trafficked choose to remain prostitutes for life because their home villages will not accept them . But Koirala says that among those rescued by Maiti Nepal , there is n't a single case when a girl has returned back to the streets .

Geeta 's recovery is one of the group 's success stories . Today , she works at Maiti Nepal as a peer educator and also helps with the group 's awareness camps . She credits Koirala and Maiti Nepal for the strength to keep living and the confidence to join the fight against sex trafficking .

`` Anuradha is a hero . ... She 's courageous , '' Geeta said . `` She gave me my faith back . ... If Maiti Nepal was n't there for me , I would be dead by now . ''

Want to get involved ? Check out the Maiti Nepal website and see how to help .

CNN 's Gena Somra and Farhad Shadravan contributed to this report .

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Group fights to prevent sexual trafficking of Nepal 's women and girls

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Anuradha Koirala , 61 , started Maiti Nepal following an abusive relationship

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More than 12,000 Nepali women and girls have been rescued and rehabilitated since 1993

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